Chinese environmental groups accuse Apple of ignoring health concerns

A consortium of environmentally focused groups in China called out Apple on Thursday for allegedly failing to properly oversee suppliers, accusing the iPhone maker of fostering health and safety problems in factories.

Three-dozen environmental groups from China published the report Thursday, entitled "The Other Side of Apple," which ranks the Cupertino, Calif.-based company as the least responsive among more than 25 technology companies surveyed for details on working conditions. According to The Associated Press, the environmentalist activists are also advocates of workers' rights.

The groups' report chastises Apple for not responding to repeated requests for information related to apparent issues with suppliers. Apple and its overseas manufacturing and component partners, particularly Foxconn, have come under fire with allegations of employee mistreatment and inadequate pay.

The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, based in Beijing, specifically cited an incident with Apple supplier Wintek, where a number of workers became sick after they were allegedly exposed to poisonous chemical. Wintek makes display panels for Apple's iPhone and iPad, and it was reported that the use of n-hexane to clean those displays caused the incident. The chemical can cause nerve damage and paralysis in humans.

Wintek was sued by 44 employees over the incident, and the Chinese environmental group, in its report, said that the company acknowledged the incident to them. But they were apparently upset that Apple would not reveal to the group whether Wintek was supplying displays for Apple's products in that particular case.

Apple came in last place among the 29 companies ranked by the group. Declared the most responsive was British Telecommunications, followed by Compaq Computer and Samsung Electronics.

Common now! How about the country show some concerns for the environment and its people instead of scapegoating some foreign corporation that has little control over the situation. If apple ever threatened to pull contracts out of China for envirommental or humanitarian reasons, what do you wanna bet the same people would be screaming that an American company should mind its own business?

Hertz is being accused by the government of ignoring health concerns because Ford workers are exposed to hazardous conditions. Since Hertz buys huge fleets of Ford cars, they should be responsible for what Ford does.

Heck, Folks, Why do you think that they make electronics in china anyway? Yea, low labor costs due to large labor pool, but do you think that the people of the US would put up with the toxic waste that electronic assembly requires? No way. Thats why the big "domestic" board fabs are in Mexico. Its a mess.

Heck, Folks, Why do you think that they make electronics in china anyway? Yea, low labor costs due to large labor pool, but do you think that the people of the US would put up with the toxic waste that electronic assembly requires? No way. Thats why the big "domestic" board fabs are in Mexico. Its a mess.

Okay... putting morality on the sidelines for a bit, why doesn't the Chinese or Mexican governments crack down on companies in their respective countries for violating whatever health laws that are being broken?

I'll tell you why... if they regulate too much, it will be just like you said about America. Their products would cost much more and they fear that production will move elsewhere. That's the reality of it. You know it, they know it, and Apple, HP, Dell, etc. all know it too.

So how is that the problem of the widget buyer and not the company making the widgets?